Mirror, rorrim
by Eveshka
Summary: When Lina is accused of murdering the ruler of a powerful country, she must discover the truth while proving her own innocence. [Abandoned]
1. Chapter 1

Mirror, rirroM

Chapter 1

            Lina yawned. She was damnably tired, but it was her watch, and if she fell asleep, she'd never hear the end of it. _The story of my life, she thought disgustedly. __I always run out of money and then I have to take stupid jobs like this!_

            Sadly, this time, it was all her own fault that she had no money. She scowled, folding her arms and leaning harder against the wall as she thought about it. She'd been dumb, flipping the coin purse like she always did, not paying attention… and she'd fumbled it straight into the river.

            Two hours of splashing frantically around hadn't found it, either.

            At least she was on her own, and no one had been around to laugh or make comments.

            And the pay wasn't bad… she was just bored. Like anyone ever came to a tiny little town to rob- her attention was caught by a footfall. What was that?

            She straightened up, drawing her blade silently. No sense in popping off a magic spell and warning the intruder that she was here… she could just wait and let him come to her.

            The intruder was almost silent, the footsteps careful. _But not careful enough… she thought. __I can hear you. She crouched low, weapon hilt almost to the ground. It would be time, soon enough._

            He approached unerringly, and she knew that he'd caught her outline in the half-light. The half-whisper of metal against leather, and she knew his blade had been drawn.

            There was a glint of steel, and she blocked the incoming sword-thrust, returning it and dodging out of the way with a grunt. Well, she'd wanted something to do, and getting out of this guy's way was high on her list right at the moment. His attacks were strong, swift, and she was beginning to falter. _Damn! This guy is good! I'm gonna have to do something else really fast. I knew I should have gone to bed earlier!_

            She leapt backwards to avoid another blow, immediately having to twist out of the way of his follow-through. _All right… let's shed some light on this, shall we?_

            The ball of light burst into her hand without the calling of the spell, the brilliance aimed to hopefully blind her opponent long enough for her to press her own advantage. A glint reflected back at her from an impossible angle. _His… hair…?_

            She froze.

            "ZEL?!!?!??"

            He blinked.

            She grinned. "What the hell are you doing here?" Sheathing her sword, she stood with a grin, running fingers through unruly red curls.

            He blinked again. Her? Here? The witch that he was sent to kill was Lina Inverse?

            "Hello-o? Zelgadis? Is anyone in there?"

            She was knocking on his arm, peering up into his face. "Hey, Ze-el. Zelly… are you okay?"

            He blinked at her again. "I was sent to kill you…"

            She wrinkled her nose, waving her hand at him as if to dismiss that fact. "Yeah, yeah. It's not the first time, and probably won't be the last. What else is new? How are you? It's been years!"

            He was still working through the fact that she was the one he'd been hired to kill. She'll be guarding the statue, they'd said. He'd asked what she looked like. They'd said he'd know her when he saw her.

            They'd set him up. The thrice-damned Council of Elders had set him up!

            Lina stood on tiptoe, peering into his eyes. "You know, you really do have nice eyes, but they sure don't tell much of what you're thinking…"

            He shifted his gaze to her eyes. "Do you really think so?"

            Instantly she jumped back and blushed violently. "Erm… well… I… that is…" She scowled suddenly, changing the subject. "So what is this about you being hired to kill me?"

            He sank to the floor with a sigh. "The Council of Elders hired me to kill a witch that was keeping them from getting to their ceremonial statue."

            Lina drew up short, looking into the shadows that concealed the statue. "But… the Council of Elders hired me to guard the statue…" Her eyes narrowed. "Why those simpering pigs. They sent a letter to hire me specifically, probably just so they could have me killed! Oh… great! What in the blazes did I do to _them_?"

            Ignoring Lina's dramatic tugging of her hair, Zelgadis started counting off on his fingers as he started listing off things. "You used your fishing spell in the river above town and brought the fish to town, selling them at four times the street price… you demolished the building of a merchant who had seen you at the river doing the fishing… You 'borrowed' the key to the repository of the town's museum and subsequently 'borrowed' some priceless magical artifacts…"

            She interrupted him indignantly. "I just read the spellbooks and put them back! I didn't do anything to them!"

He'd learned long ago that a noncommittal answer was good in cases like this, and she sighed and looked at her hands. He glanced up at the blushing sorceress. "Do I need to continue?"

            Lina sighed and collapsed on the floor beside him. "No, not really," she replied glumly. "So what are you going to do, Zelgadis?"

            He shrugged. "I'm going to have to kill you."


	2. Chapter 2

Mirror, rirroM

Chapter 2

            "WHAT???" She shrieked at him. "No way! Zel…! How can you stand there and say that? I mean… we're friends, right?"

            He regarded her stonily, a talent that had only sharpened over the years. "I was hired to do a job."

            Lina frowned. "A job? So killing me is a job? How much did they offer you? Hm?" She put her hands on her hips, eying him.

            "Two hundred," came his reply.

            "TWO HUNDRED? Zelgadis Greywords, you know as well as me that I'm worth a whole lot more than that! Why didn't you hold out for more???" Lina was too indignant at the amount to recall it was her head being priced.

            "Thousand," he finished. "Two hundred thousand."

            The words turned into stone and fell on Lina's head. She picked herself up from under the fallen stone and looked at him. "Two hundred thousand?" She sighed, shoulders slumping and head bowed. "I guess I'm not worth all that much, after all. Hey… that Lina Inverse… Saved the world four times… but she's only worth two hundred thousand."

            Zelgadis started to sweatdrop as he watched her warily. She wasn't entirely predictable when she got like this, and he knew he'd have to keep his guard up. But, he wondered to himself. Could he still carry out the job knowing it was her?

            She paced back and forth. "Yeah, I wasn't alone in doing all those things… but still. You'd figure that I'd be worth more somehow." She came to a halt and sank to her knees. "I won't fight you. Just do me a favor, Zel…" She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, lowering her head. "Make it clean and painless?"

            He stood there, staring at her in dumb shock. _She… Lina…_ He found his lips moving, the words unbidden. "Lina, I can't… I can't hurt you."

             Before he could continue, she had leapt up without a trace of the despair she'd shown only moments before, gleefully hugging him. "I knew you couldn't do it, Zel!"

            He stared at her and it suddenly struck him that her entire reaction had been an act. His eyes narrowed, and he started to pry her off of him. "Now, look here, Lina…"

            She squeaked and bounced off of him. "Now we have to figure out how to convince them that you actually did kill me so you can get paid." She assumed a thinking position, and he watched in befuddlement. "What if you… no, that won't work. You could… no, they'd see right through that." She looked over at him. "What do you have to bring to them?"

            "Your body."

            She recoiled slightly. "Erk. Um. Well…" She pondered for a moment, and then looked at him, eyes glinting. "That gives me an idea…"

            In the morning, Zelgadis stood at the assigned meeting place, waiting for his contact to arrive. It wasn't long before the little man arrived and approached. Zelgadis laid his burden on the ground and waited for the man to speak.

            "Is this…?"

            Zelgadis nodded wordlessly, lifting up a corner of the heavy fabric that he'd wrapped her in. He unwrapped to her face, and the little man nodded, rubbing his hands.

            "So peaceful in death… yet in life, so very destructive. Excellent work." The little man extended a small bag, which Zelgadis took, opened, and looked into silently. After a brief count, he nodded tersely and re-wrapped the sorceress. As he bent to pick her up, the little man intervened.

            "I'll take that, if you don't mind."

            The look that Zelgadis gave the little man was chilled enough to freeze a desert river. "That was not in the contract. Your business was that I do the job. My business is the clean-up."

            "I'll pay you! Name your price!" The little man offered.

            Zelgadis considered it before naming a figure that he'd had thrown at him once before and long ago. "Thirty million. No less. Right now."

            The little man took two steps backwards. "For that price… you could own a castle on prime real estate!!"

            "Fully furnished with all the servants," Zelgadis completed, eerily reminded of another time and place. "That's the price. Take it, or leave it."

            The man shook his head. "Keep the body. I don't need it that badly."

Zelgadis shouldered the sorceress, and nodded to the little man, drawing his hood over his head. "Should I see you again, I will deny any previous business dealings with you. Good day."

            With that, he turned and left the town, walking away without looking back, the weight of the sorceress slung over his shoulder.

            As soon as he was satisfied that he was far enough away from the town and his contact, he slipped into a group of trees and lowered the wrapped sorceress to the ground. Unwrapping her, he smirked. "It's clear, Lina."

            She opened her eyes, looked at him, and started to laugh. "Thirty million? He had the same reaction that you did, Zel." She sat up and stretched, looking around her. "So… where are we going?"

            "_We_ aren't going anywhere. I am going on my way and you can do whatever you wish," he replied.


	3. Chapter 3

Mirror, rirroM

Chapter 3

            Lina sat on the ground, looking up at Zelgadis. "Come on, Zel! You're kidding! After all we've been through?"

            Zelgadis folded his arms and looked back at her. "Especially what we've been through. Lina, all I want to do is find my cure. I don't want to save the world; I don't want to fight a Dark Lord or meet an overworlder. You may be fine with running headlong into trouble and having to fight your way out of it… but not me. That's not my kind of life…" his voice trailed off as he looked at her.

            Lina Inverse, sorceress extraordinaire was looking at him with eyes filled with tears. _Oh, no. No, no, no, no! She is not going to trick me with that! I won't buy it! He frowned at her. "No, Lina."_

            Her eyes got bigger and she looked at him with her lower lip trembling. He took a deep breath, wrestled with himself for a moment, and then opened the bag of coin the man had given him, tossed her a single silver piece, and then turned and started walking along the road, drawing his hood up over his face.

            He waited for the footfalls as he walked.            

He waited for the inevitable announcement that she would follow him, no matter what.

            He waited.

            Eventually, he gave in and turned to look, half expecting her to be right behind him, ready to clonk him upside the head with a slipper.

            The road was deserted.

            Blinking thoughtfully, he turned around and continued to walk.

            Lina sat on a branch in the tree that she'd climbed up into, looking at the silver piece that Zelgadis had thrown at her. _After all that… when it's all said and done… he throws a single silver piece at me and walks away. I mean, I can't really blame him for only taking two hundred thousand for the job. How could he have known it was me? But to just leave me there on the side of the road? I thought… I thought his friends meant more than that. I guess… I guess I was wrong._

            She slipped off of the branch, allowing gravity to work its own magic and landed on her feet wincing at the pain shooting through her ankle. _Never mind that, it'll heal. Eventually. Well, Lina… no use crying over any of that now. You're clearly on your own, and that's that._ She looked around thoughtfully. "Now if I go that way… I head back for the people who tried to have me killed. And while I can't say that I'm happy about them trying that, and I really want to hurt them for it… well…" she patted a pocket in her cloak. "I can't really go back while I still have what they hired me to guard, can I?" She grinned at herself. "Good thing I had decided to keep it safe in my pocket in case I had to leave the room."

            She turned in the direction that Zelgadis had walked, looking thoughtful. "On the other hand, if I go this way, I might run into Zel again. Eh," she said, waving her hand at her silliness. "I'd much rather face an irritated Zel than angry townspeople. So! Off I go!"

            She headed down the path, walking and flipping the coin thoughtfully, that old habit picked back up since being on her own again. She caught the silver piece and looked at it for a moment, then pocketed it. Flipping things had gotten her into this mess in the first place. No sense losing this coin too.

            She got into the city just after nightfall, coming to a halt when she saw the first burned-out building. The smell of smoke hung low in the air, heavy and cloying. She started searching for survivors, trying to figure out what had happened, but found only dying embers and rubble after hours of searching.

            With a sigh, she sat on a stone, looking around at the devastation. It looked as if there hadn't been anyone in the city when it burned. _But why? What caused it to burn… and where are the people?_

            A movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she turned to see a figure moving through the rubble. She slipped off of the stone and walked over to the figure. "Hey… what happened here?"

            It took less than a heartbeat for them to recognize each other, and Lina sighed. "I'm not following you, Zel. You want to find your cure. Fine, I respect that. I thought maybe you were a survivor of the fires or something." She turned around and lifted her chin slightly. Lifting her hand in a wave, she started to walk away. "See you around."           


	4. Chapter 4

Mirror, rirroM

Chapter 4

            Cursing himself for the folly of curiosity, he started after her, catching up easily with his longer steps. For a while, there was silence, and he wasn't sure that she knew that he'd started to walk beside her. She broke the silence with a question, not pausing to look at him, just asking it as she walked, hand extended, silver glinting from the object on her palm.

            "Come to get your coin back?"

            He stared at the coin in her hand. Within his line of sight were her legs, and he realized with a jolt that she was limping. Why hadn't he noticed before? "Lina? You're limping."

            "Does it matter? Forget about it. It's not important. Your cure is important, so take the coin and go find your cure." Her voice was edged, but with what, he couldn't tell.

            He came to a halt, watching her as she walked on ahead. Little things that he hadn't seen earlier became noticeable, and forgetting his desire to be alone, he moved quickly to get in front of her. Stopping in her path and turning, he looked at her. "You're hurt."

Lina came to a stop, scowling and folding her arms. "I said forget about it, Zel. It's not that important."

He looked at her, considering several courses of action. As he considered, her expression went from blank to irritated, and moving faster than she could, he reached out a hand, casting a sleep spell and moving to catch the sorceress as she fell. He wasn't much of a healer, and he knew that she wasn't either, but he could tell that she'd had the injury for a while. How long, he couldn't tell, but he decided that he'd take her to the next town and get her to a true healer.

That was, if she didn't wake up somewhere along the way and kill him for this…

            She didn't wake at all as he carried her through the burned out city and on down the road to the next town. That fact alone worried him, and somewhere a dispassionate part of him wondered why it was bothering him. But he hadn't left her any of the times she'd been hurt, had he? He'd even tried to fight against the Golden One… but Gourry had proven the better man there. He paused in his steps, looking with sudden thought to Lina's still face. Where was Gourry, anyway? The last he'd seen them; they'd been bickering over dinner.

            He'd ask her later, he decided, and continued on to the small town, arriving with Lina as the sun was beginning to rise. He'd walked all night carrying her. He was tired, but it was a better tired than usual. He'd earned it helping Lina.

            As he approached the cleric guildhouse, he wondered that she hadn't woken up yet, and thought perhaps that she'd been more tired than she'd let on. He knocked on the door of the guildhouse, and waited for someone to answer the summons to the door.

            After some shuffling, the door creaked open, and a wizened old Cleric squinted out at them. "Yeah, what do you want?"

            Zelgadis blinked in surprise at the gruff voice, and then indicated the sleeping sorceress in his arms. "I need a healer."

            The squint shifted from Zelgadis to Lina, and then backs to Zelgadis. "You don't need the healer. She needs the healer. There's nothing wrong with you, boy."

            Zelgadis felt his temper starting to fray. "Now look here… I've walked all night to bring her here to you for help. If you're not going to help, just say so, and I'll just find someone who will help."

            From inside the door came a voice calling. "That's enough, Kearne. Let the young man bring the girl in."

            The wizened man called Kearne shuffled out of the way, and made way for Zelgadis to enter the guildhouse with Lina still in his arms. Standing in the doorway with the white robes of a High Cleric was what Zelgadis imagined an angel must look like, if angels were inclined to exist on this plane. She was tall, young, thin, and her long blonde hair tumbled down her back in waves of gold.

            She was exactly the kind of woman that men would gladly go off to their deaths for. What in the name of Cepheid was she doing as a High Cleric?

            She hid a smile and reached out to the youth and his charge. "Come, Zelgadis. Let us see what we can do for Lina."

            Unable to hide his startlement, he looked at the woman, who answered his unspoken question. "I know a great many things, Zelgadis, and it is hard to miss the actions of those who have fought against Shabranigdo when one is a Cleric of Cepheid. Now, come,"

            She turned to walk into the room behind her, and Zelgadis followed with Lina still cradled in his arms.


	5. Chapter 5

Mirror, rirroM

Chapter 5

            Kai had Zelgadis bring Lina into a small room and rest her on a set of cushions on the floor. Once he'd done that, she'd immediately shooed him out of the room and closed the door in his surprised and confused face.

            For the next hour, he paced in the hallway outside. Cleric after Cleric attempted to get him to rest, or offered him food. Each was refused quietly and intensely. The more offers that he had to turn away, the more intense he became, until all of the Clerics at hand were too unnerved by his presence and Kearne was eventually brought back into the matter.

            "Here now, what's all the fuss? You're scaring everyone!" The wizened old man shuffled into the hallway, and stopped to look at Zelgadis with eyes concealed under heavy white eyebrows.

            The youth turned to see the old man and scowled. "Lina has been in there for an hour, and I don't know if she is well!"

            Kearne nodded in the fashion that old people tend to when they Know Something. "You care for the girl, then?"

            Cheeks flamed scarlet, and blue eyes narrowed. "That's not important! The only thing that's important right now is making sure that Lina is okay."

            Shimmering green eyes opened from under heavily lashed eyelids, and Kearne looked at Zelgadis calmly. "Young man, if you fall over from exhaustion, who will be there when the sorceress wakes? Do not jeopardize yourself when there is nothing that you can do. Rest now, and you will be there when she needs you."

            Zelgadis couldn't argue with the man, even though he didn't like it. The logic was cold, clear… and well, now that he noticed, he was rather tired. Carrying Lina through the night had been tiring… 

            Kearne nodded to the Cleric who stood just outside of Zelgadis' line of sight, and watched her approach the youth and lead him to a room where he could rest.

            Children rarely listened to their elders.

            Hours passed, and Zelgadis was sleeping when Kai opened the door to the room where he was resting and whispered softly. "She will wake soon, Zelgadis." She knew that the whisper was all that was needed, and watched the young man rise and look over to her with unspoken questions in his eyes.

            She offered no answers, simply turning and stepping out of the room to allow him to follow her to the room where Lina rested within. She opened the door, and waited for Zelgadis to step inside before closing it behind him.

            The room was quiet, and there was a sense of stillness in the air as Zelgadis looked down at the sleeping form of Lina. She looked so small lying there on the cushions on the floor, and a moment of fierce protectiveness rose within him. But, no. That wasn't his duty. Forcibly, he put the emotion away, reminding himself that he had no formal ties to her.

            Her eyes flickered, and he kneeled at her side as she awoke. As he watched her eyes open, he saw the sudden alarm flash within the crimson depths, and put his hand lightly on her shoulder to stay any action she might take. "Easy, Lina. We're in a Cleric guild."

            The alarm faded, and she turned her head to look at him. Her eyes were unreadable as she looked at him. "Why did you bring me here? I thought you wanted nothing to do with me."

            The words stung, but he knew that he'd deserved it. He'd said it to her himself. It was how it should be. Would be. He stood, pulling his hand away from her, and nodded. "You seem fine now. In that case, I will take my leave." The coldness crept back into his heart, and he knew that his eyes reflected such.

            Anger flashed through her own eyes, followed by something he didn't care to identify at the moment, and he turned away, opening the door to exit the room and close the door behind him, leaving her alone.

            Kearne saw Zelgadis step out of the room and looked to the youth. "Trouble looms on the horizon, young man. Take care that it does not find you unprepared."

            Irritation flickered across the cerulean eyes. "What?" Zelgadis snapped as he paused to look at the old man.

            "That which you see is not always the truth. Remember that, Zelgadis Greywords," Kearne replied cryptically before departing the room, leaving the youth standing before the doorway.

            Lina sat in the room, looking at the door that Zelgadis had closed behind him. _What a jerk. If he's going to be that way, I certainly don't need him around!_ A thought crossed her mind, and she leapt off of the cushions. _Oh no! He's going to leave me here and I'll have to pay the Clerics! He's not going to get away with that!_

            She crossed the room and yanked open the door, running face-first into Zelgadis and falling backwards into the room with a startled squeak.


	6. Chapter 6

Mirror, rorriM

Chapter 6

            Of course, it would have been Zelgadis that Lina had just run into, and the solid chimera turned to see the sorceress sitting on the floor looking up at him irritably. Keenly aware that it was a bad situation growing worse, Zelgadis muttered an apology and stepped sideways away from the door.

            Lina scowled and picked herself up off of the floor, brushing at any (non-existent) dust that she might have picked up. Shooting a glare at Zelgadis, she stalked across the hallway, opened the door, and left.

            The first thing that Lina discovered after she'd stepped outside was that it was drawing close to night-time. She probably should have spent the night at the Guildhouse, but the thought of spending a night under the same roof as Zelgadis was completely out of the question. He'd wanted her to leave him alone, so by Cepheid, she'd leave him alone. _Idiot._ She thought to herself, ignoring the hurt that tugged at her. _Yeah, sure, he's friendly when it gets him what he wants. I'm glad Amelia isn't around to see this. It would probably break her heart._

            She hadn't thought of the princess in a while, and the memory of the over-eager girl brought a faint smile to Lina's face. Maybe she'd go visit Saillune and see how Amelia was doing. That was guaranteed to be a place that Zelgadis wouldn't go…

            Lost in thought, Lina walked along the road, approaching the forest slowly. Distracted such, she didn't notice that someone was following her.

            Zelgadis was feeling the beginnings of a headache. First Kearne and his nonsense about dreams, and now Lina acting like… well, like _that_. He walked along the dusty road, absently noting the two sets of footprints that extended ahead of him as he contemplated why Lina was being so nasty. One set of prints he knew was Lina's. Her prints were small, the stride short in proper proportion. But the other set was heavier, the prints deeper and longer, as if a taller person was hurrying along. By the wear, the prints weren't all that old. All this he noted without truly paying it any attention whatsoever.

            But when his eyes caught the second prints meshing with the first prints, he started to take notice. He stopped to look at the scuffmarks in the ground, tracing the pattern of what appeared to be a scuffle. The larger prints were the only ones that continued along the road into the forest.

            So what had happened to Lina?

            He crouched to examine the prints. There were a set that looked as if her feet were sideways, and then a clear handprint in the dirt. He set his hand lightly beside it to compare size. _Yes, that looks like Lina's handprint…_ he thought. He looked up and towards the forest where the other prints led. _But why didn't she fly? She didn't even seem to fight that hard._

            He sighed and stood. It was never easy. It never went the way that he wanted it to go. Ever. He pulled his hood up around his head and moved towards the forest. Here he went, off to the rescue of someone who would most likely be totally ungrateful for his actions. Once more, drop everything and go stare down some unknown evil and not know if it was the last thing he'd do.

            He was such a pushover.

            The world spun around the petite sorceress, and she vainly tried to force her own thoughts clear. Drugged… something across her face… a sickeningly sweet smell that made her want to breathe it and yet made her gag at the same time. Someone was carrying her. Not Zelgadis… who?

            She flailed for a moment before the scent grew stronger and the world faded into darkness.

            The man carrying the sorceress looked to his assistant. "Don't overdo it. We can't kill her yet. She has to stand trial for what she's done."

            "My daughter's dead, thanks to this witch. I say we skip the trial. Everyone knows who did it," replied the blonde man, voice and eyes hard with anger.

            They continued to pick their way through the forest, towards a refuge that had been hastily constructed to house survivors from the disaster of a few days ago. The man carrying Lina stopped, turning to look behind him. "Someone's following us."

            The blonde stopped, looking around them wildly, seeing no-one. "How can you tell? Everything makes noise in this damn place."

            "There's someone there. He's good at being quiet, but not good enough. Come on out, I know you're there," the other said.

            From the shadows, a figure cloaked in tan coalesced, crystal blue eyes the only thing visible of the individual. A voice that was pitched just too softly issued a single and quiet demand: "Put her down and I won't have to hurt you."


	7. Chapter 7

Mirror, rorriM

Chapter 7

            The silence that followed the demand was stifling. The man holding the sorceress looked to his companion and raised an eyebrow. A moment passed, and Zelgadis shifted his weight, revealing his sword-hilt.

            "We can't just let her go. You came up the road? Surely you saw the remains of the city that she destroyed," the man holding Lina replied.

            "She killed my daughter and everyone else in the Palace. Even the young Lord was caught in the blast of her spell."

            Zelgadis folded his arms. Certainly, the sorceress was known for destruction, but he knew that she'd never knowingly take a life. Yes, she was of Nightmare magics, yet he couldn't place a time when she'd actually killed someone.

            "You intend to take her, then?" Zelgadis replied. It wasn't truly a question, more a matter of fact statement phrased with a question at the end.

            "She will stand trial for what she has done. Until that time, she will be safe."

            Zelgadis knew that he stood at yet another cross-point in his life. Turn around and walk away, and while Lina might not know he had been there, he'd know. What if they kept her drugged and gave her the trial without her even being aware of what was happening?

            And how in the name of the Dark Lord had they drugged her? That wasn't a question that was asked lightly, and he could only surmise that her ankle had something to do with her inability to defend herself. Unless she wasn't even trying… Now he had a puzzle to solve.

            "Then you will have no objections to my presence. She is likely to be highly irrational when she wakes, and if you wish to have any hope of living through her anger, I'd best be there."

            The guilty looks that flashed between the men gave foundation to his suspicions. Remaining fully cloaked, he moved forward and looked the dark-haired man in the eyes. "My name is Zelgadis. I will carry her as I am somewhat used to her weight. You have my word as a shaman that I will not run off with her."

            A light turned on in the dark eyes. "A shaman? You are a healer as well?" He offered the unconscious sorceress. "We have wounded… would you possibly…?"

            The chimera took the limp woman and nodded. "I will do what I can. Lina also has some skill with the restorative magics. When she wakes, I will ask her to assist."

            The blonde turned to stalk off. "I don't trust that witch."

            Chimera and human watched him depart. A moment of awkward silence fell, and then the dark-haired man turned to Zelgadis. "I am Brynn, once the lead sorcerer for our late Lord. My vociferous companion is Davin, formerly the head of the infantry. Come, this way."

            As they walked through the forest, Brynn explained what had happened. He claimed that Lina had come and demanded some sort of magical item that was rumored to be in a temple in the city. When they tried to explain that the item didn't exist, she had become irate and threatened to destroy the city if they didn't present her with the object.

            The rest was fairly predictable, Zelgadis thought; with the exception of the fact that the only spell that Lina supposedly used was a Fireball. Having lived through some of her worst fireballs, he knew that they could not have done the type of damage he had seen at the ruins. Something or someone else was at fault for that. He looked to Lina for a moment, hoping that she was near wakefulness, but she was still and unresponsive.

            They approached the makeshift camp, and a hush fell as eyes traveled over his cloaked figure, hostility chilling the air as they saw Lina limp in his arms.

            He really wished she were awake.

            Brynn led them towards a poorly made tent, but Zelgadis shook his head. "I will not deprive you of your shelter. Both Lina and I are well accustomed to sleeping on the road. We will be fine nearby. If someone will watch her until it seems that she will wake, I will tend to the injured."

            "I will watch her," Brynn said. He took the still-limp sorceress from the chimera and looked across to a woman near a campfire. "Saki, please take Zelgadis to see the injured. He is a shaman, and can help."

            The woman nodded and bundled up her hair as she bustled over to lead Zelgadis off. Before the chimera stepped away, however, he fixed Brynn with a look. "Send for me before she is awake."

            "No harm will come to her while she is in my care, Zelgadis. You have my word. Please, help the injured as best you can." Brynn replied, aware of the silent warning given by the strangely cloaked shaman.

            Zelgadis nodded once, and turned to follow the woman named Saki, all the while wondering if this was such a good idea after all.


	8. Chapter 8

Mirror, rorriM

Chapter 8

            The extent of the injuries that Zelgadis came across spoke of far higher levels of magic than just a simple Fireball spell, perhaps even more magic than Lina was willing to use herself. Saki quietly led him to the most severely injured first, and Zelgadis had to fight to keep his reactions neutral.

            The child in front of him was undoubtedly dying. She'd been pinned by a part of the house that had fallen on her, Saki informed him in a hushed voice. Three men had managed to pull the wall off, but both of the child's legs had been crushed by the sheer weight of the stone in the wall. She'd lost a lot of blood, he noted, and he doubted that he could do much to aid her. Instead, he cast a simple spell, blocking her pain, allowing her to ease into a sleep that she would wake from, but would not heal within.

            One after another, he healed the injuries that he could; masking the pain for those who were injured beyond his ability to aid. He needed Amelia and Sylphiel for the higher healings, and he wasn't sure how he could get to them.

            Brynn was pacing back and forth in the doorway to the makeshift tent. Had Davin used too much of the sleeping liquid? He had the strange impression that the mysterious man's wrath would be fierce if the sorceress didn't wake soon, and the survivors had dealt with enough hardships. To bring more onto them… if it came to that, he'd accept full responsibility. He should have died anyway, not his young Lord.

            As he paced, scarlet eyes tracked his movements back and forth. He was too inattentive to be much of a captor, and she was still too weak to be anything but a captive. A faint flicker of magic-sense caught her attention, however, and she paused. She might not be able to cast magic yet, but she could still sense it. With a shock, she recognized the magical print: Zelgadis.

            Sitting up, she cleared her throat and looked expectantly at the brunette man. "Would you mind explaining exactly what is going on?"

            Brynn turned and paled to see her sitting up and looking at him. Zelgadis' last words to him echoed in his head, and he stammered incoherently for a moment at her.

            She stood, hiding her own injuries and weakness, walking towards the door and looking at him. "Zelgadis is here, isn't he?"

            A mute nod was her only answer.

            "Good. I'll go find him," Lina said, and then walked past the very surprised man and off towards where she'd felt the glimmer of magic.

            Wherever she walked, people scrambled to get out of her way. It made no sense to her, to think that the entire village (if she could call this decrepit collection of shelters a village) was afraid of her. Finally, as she walked, a woman hesitantly approached, asking her if she sought the shaman. Recalling that Zelgadis was just such a magic user, Lina nodded curtly, and the woman indicated the sorceress should follow.

            Even as she approached the cloaked figure kneeling beside someone on the ground, she could see that he was tired. He'd expended much of his magic, and while he had more magic than the average shaman, she could tell that he was wearing thin.

            "What's going on, Zel?" Lina asked as she walked up to him, still trying to hide the limp. Hopefully he was too tired to notice it.

            He cast a glance her way and sighed. "They were supposed to come get me before you woke. I didn't hear anything explode, so I assume you took pity on them."

            A blush rose to her cheeks, unbidden. "Well… now that you mention it…" Her voice trailed off. Why was she telling him after he'd been so nasty? "It's nothing. What's going on here?"

            He brushed dust off of his hands and stood slowly. "They say you destroyed the town back there." His voice, normally quiet, was so low she had to strain to hear.

            "Me? How could I? I mean… I wouldn't do that! Even if I would, I couldn't… I mean…" Her blush intensified and she stared hard at the ground, recalling the last time they'd had a discussion similar to this.

            He put it together in less time than it took for her to blush. "Oh." And then, he too remembered what had happened the last time he commented on it, so he wisely kept his mouth shut about it. "Then you are not the culprit. But why do these people think you are the one who destroyed the town?"

            "Because the one who destroyed it looked just like her," Brynn replied from behind Lina.


	9. Chapter 9

Mirror, rorriM

Chapter 9

            The dark-haired woman looked around with quiet blue eyes. She'd run away from home again, grabbing only what she needed, throwing it into a spelled bag, and slipping out before first light. She'd done the responsible thing and left a note to her father, but other than that, well, if she didn't know where she was going, how could she tell anyone else?

            She'd taken her trusty map and headed out, following the main road from town to town, but lately, things hadn't looked right. This morning, she'd been sure that a town should have been off to her right. There wasn't anything but rubble, so she'd turned down a side road, thinking she'd been reading the map wrong. Now, she was standing among some trees, trying vainly to decide where she was.

            Ultimately, she decided that she was lost. But she could handle that. In all of her previous travels, she'd wandered with companions in search of anything and everything. They'd managed well enough, and as sure as her name was Amelia wil Tesla Saillune, well… she'd manage just fine on her own.

            The woods grew thicker as she tromped on, and she began to get the feeling that she was being watched. Determined not to let it bother her, she continued on, making her way deeper into the forest, humming inane little ditties as she went.

            "What should we do?" One voice whispered.

            "She's just a girl. We can't let her wander around in here at night. It's not safe." Another replied.

            Amelia spun around, pointer finger outstretched. "Stop right there! In the name of Justice, I demand you identify yourselves!"

            Two figures rose from behind some bushes and looked at her. The taller of the two men tilted his blonde head. "In the name of Justice?"  
            Amelia colored and dropped her hand, fidgeting with her bracelet. "Well… unlike other people, I think it's just not very polite to threaten with a fireball. I mean, what if you don't mean me any harm?"

            The redhead blinked. He considered it for a moment. "Well… you seem very sure that we don't mean you harm."

            Amelia smiled her sunniest smile. "I've learned that people who mean you harm don't get concerned about your fate in the woods at night."

            The blonde nodded slowly. "Do you know where you are? No, it's obvious that you don't. Follow us; we'll take you to a safe place where you can rest the evening. We don't have a lot, but we will share what we can."

            And so the princess followed the two hunters, unaware that she had been the reason that there wouldn't be an abundance of meat that evening.

            Zelgadis was tired. Correct that. He was beyond tired. But there were injured to heal, and he was still conscious. He moved on to the next injured child and tried not to let it get to him that he was healing children. His heart was made of stone, just like the rest of him, right?

            He was vaguely aware that the children weren't shrinking from him, but he supposed that it was largely because he still had his hood up, and he was obviously healing them. Truth be told, as the evening wore on, he was getting uncomfortably warm under the cloak, and that wasn't helping his tiredness. But he was still conscious.

            The princess entered the camp, and looked around in confusion. No, this was definitely not on her map. She paused for a moment, and then decided to do what any intrepid and wayward princess would do. She put the map away.

            Those who worked within the camp looked at her warily, and she followed the two men who had led her here closely. It wasn't exactly friendly, but it wasn't hostile, either. She was almost glad that Lina wasn't around. Goodness only knows what would happen if the redheaded nightmare magic user-

            "Amelia!!! What are you doing here??"

            The Princess stopped dead in her tracks. What was the old saying? Think of the devil…? She turned around with dread in her stomach. "Lina…"

            The redheaded sorceress stood there, arms folded. "Actually, that doesn't matter right now." Lina moved forwards, reaching out to grab Amelia and pull her along. "There are a lot of injured people, and Zelgadis can't cure them all."

            Immediately bewildered, Amelia allowed Lina to drag her along. "But… Lina… I don't understand…"

            Lina sighed as the approached the shelters where the injured lay. "Neither do I, Amelia. They seem to think that I'm the one who caused this, but there's no way that I could. I can't even cast a light spell right now."

            Amelia's eyes grew round, both from the statement from Lina and the sight of Zelgadis nearly collapsed beside an injured child. Silently, she ran to his side, but he insisted on forcing himself to lead her to that first child, the one with the crushed legs.

            Amelia's heart nearly broke at the sight of the child, and she began healing the girl immediately, not noticing Lina struggling to catch the staggering chimera. Luckily for Lina, Brynn had followed them, and soon they were guiding the exhausted shaman to a cot where he could sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

Mirror, rorriM

Chapter 10

            He opened his eyes to see the roof of a tent above, and for a moment, wondered where he was. As memory flooded back, he reached up and touched his mask. Yes, it was still in place. Sitting up, he noticed Amelia sound asleep on a nearby mat, no doubt sleeping off the healing work that she'd had to do.

            He stood and made his way out of the makeshift tent, and found Lina sitting beside Brynn, talking in a low voice.

            "…There's no way that damage was done by a mere fireball. My guess is something stronger, but not as strong as a Burst Flare." Lina was saying as Zelgadis approached. "The Garv Flare could have done this, but that can't be cast anymore."

            Brynn nodded a greeting as Zelgadis sat, effectively barging in on the conversation. "So, if you didn't attack the town, Lina, who did?"

            Lina sighed. "I don't know. There is another who looks a lot like me, but she's pretty pathetic and can't so much as step on a bug to save her life. And she likes slugs." The sorceress shuddered.

            Zelgadis hid his smile from his eyes, grateful that the mask concealed the curving of his lips, but Lina shot him a look anyway, as if she knew.

            "But how will you convince the others that it wasn't you, Lina? Davin isn't exactly the… forgiving type. He saw who he thinks to be you, and that is very damning evidence," Brynn replied.

            "Well, I could get a whole list of character references… on second thought, scratch that idea." Lina reflected that anything Gourry could possibly add would be more likely to backfire on her than help, and Sylphiel wouldn't offer much better. Amelia, even though she was present would most likely bring up more questions than answers, which left only one course of action. "You'll just have to trust me and let me find this double that I seem to have."

            "Trust you? After I saw you destroying my town? After you killed our young Lord?" Davin snarled as he walked towards the trio. "Brynn, why isn't she bound? Did I not tell you to bind her with iron?"

            Zelgadis' lips curled into a snarl, hidden by his mask, but Brynn beat him to anything he might have said.

            "Davin, iron bonds would do nothing to hold her; she is not fairy folk. She's bound, not in the manner of which you bind, but bound none-the-less. I have bound her, and that is all you need to worry yourself about."

            The chimera's eyes snapped to Brynn in startlement. Brynn had bound Lina? By what means had he bound her? And how had she allowed it? Zelgadis looked to Lina, and found to his unpleasant surprise that the sorceress was looking down, a distinct blush flaming across her cheeks.

            "And if she's lying to you, Brynn? If she really is the culprit?" Davin folded his arms and glared at the dark-haired sorcerer.

            "If she is lying to us, Davin, then we should consider very carefully what we do. She walks the path of Chaos, and should she take offense, she could wipe us from the face of the Four Worlds," Brynn replied calmly.

            Davin eyed Lina uneasily, who in turn, gave him a pleasantly dangerous smile. Zelgadis suddenly had that feeling of Impending Doom, and was glad that he knew the real reason Lina hadn't blown them all sky-high.

            Ultimately, Davin huffed, and turned to walk towards the area where the injured were resting. He offered no words, just walked away in silence.

            Lina sighed in relief, her shoulders slumping. "Brynn, you shouldn't have lied to him."

            _Lied?_ Zelgadis blinked at her. _Oh. So she isn't bound to him?_ He raised an eyebrow at the both of them.

            "I did not speak a lie, Lina Inverse. I know who you are, and I know what you are. And from everything I know, you are not a cold-blooded killer." Brynn leaned back against a tree trunk. "Yes, you have violent tendencies, and you always have. But you've learned to temper them over the years."

            Lina shot a confused and alarmed look to the brunette, and suddenly blushed furiously. "Brynnwon. Brynnwon Avendale. Why didn't I see it? How did I miss that it was you?"

            Zelgadis stared at the sorcerers, confused.

            Brynn smiled faintly at Lina. "You weren't exactly in very good shape last night, if you'll recall. And with Davin around, I couldn't exactly tell you."

            Lina sighed and put her face in her hands. "I can't believe it. I get clonked over the head and drugged by my old Fire Magics instructor."

            Zelgadis landed on the ground.

            Brynn chuckled softly. "Better than if I'd been Old Thorton. He would have had a field day with you, young lady."

            Lina blushed again. "But, Brynn… how did you end up here? I mean, the last I knew was that you were in consideration to be the headmaster of the school."

            Brynn's smile turned slightly wistful. "Lina, Lina… didn't I teach you anything? There is never any pay in a school job. I simply moved on to the highest bidder."

            Zelgadis stumbled as he tried to retake his seat, and missed the rock again.


	11. Chapter 11

Mirror, rorriM Chapter 11  
  
Amelia rolled over and sighed. She heard voices outside, and two of them were relentlessly dragging her to awareness. It was Lina and Zelgadis. She opened her eyes, blearily focusing on the canvas of the tent above her, and sighed again. It really hadn't been a dream. She was lost after all.  
Well, if she had to be lost, at least she was lost with Zelgadis.  
She could deal with Lina being there.  
Gathering her wits, the Princess of Saillune sat up and moved off of the uncomfortable cot. While a cot was marginally better than the ground, it never could beat the comfort of her bed at home.  
A clatter outside brought her to the tent-flap quicker than normal, and she looked out to see Zelgadis picking himself up off of the ground and taking a seat on a rock next to Lina and another sorcerer.  
Amelia noticed a peculiar blush on Lina's face, and then looked at the man next to Lina with suspicion. Seeing that he was a sorcerer didn't help the bubble of wild alarm that Amelia felt rising up to her throat.  
"Miss Lina. Mister Zelgadis. where are we?" Amelia ventured as she stepped out of the tent, trying not to sound too alarmed. Princesses didn't start off in a panic. They evaluated the situation quickly, and then decided to panic if it was warranted.  
"We're in the forest near the ruins of Talerin," Zelgadis replied as he brushed some dust off of his cloak. She noticed that he still had his hood and mask up, so right away, she knew they weren't in the company of friends.  
Amelia blinked, looking across to the one who might not be a friend. "Talerin? Ruins? I don't understand." It occurred to her who the sorcerer was. "You're the one from last night!"  
A faint smile crossed Brynn's face, and he nodded. "Indeed I am, and you are the Princess Amelia wil Tesla Saillune. Has it been so long that you have forgotten me?"  
Lina and Zelgadis both stared.  
Amelia considered, and then burst into a sunny grin. "Cousin Brynn! But." she faltered, looking at him. "What are you doing here? Weren't you teaching, or something?"  
Lina buried her face in her hand. Was everyone related to each other in some form or fashion? Next, someone would pop out of the woodwork and claim to be related to Rouddy or Mellyroon.  
"Actually, the Prince of Talerin was a student at the school, but he asked me to be his personal Sorcerer when he graduated. He made me an offer that I just could not refuse," Brynn replied.  
Amelia pondered. "In other words, you went where the money was."  
Zelgadis and Lina both collapsed.  
  
Not too far off, a plot was forming. If she hung around here, she could really have some fun. After all, with -her- around. well, she could do things and it would be blamed on -her-.  
  
Zelgadis was becoming uncomfortable in his cloak and mask, and Brynn's eyes rested on the shaman. "Why don't you take that off, lad?"  
An involuntary blush toned unseen blue cheeks to a slight purple. "I. prefer my privacy."  
"Privacy is respectable, lad. Stubbornness is not," Brynn replied easily. "If you fall over from the heat, you will have none to blame but yourself."  
Lina sat back and watched. Knowing Zelgadis, he'd rather pass out from heat exhaustion than to expose his face to strangers.  
Amazingly enough, Zelgadis reached up and tugged the mask down first, then pulled his hood back. Lina wondered how his wire hair didn't get caught in the cloth of the hood, and then considered that he might have worked up some sort of a spell to keep that from happening.  
"Mmf," Brynn grunted. "Good to see you listen to reason, lad." He turned to look to Lina. "So what are you going to do? The people are convinced that it was you who destroyed the place."  
Lina sighed. "I'm not honestly sure. I mean, I'm pretty sure that I was still at that guildhouse when the attack happened."  
Brynn tilted his head. "Guildhouse?"  
"High Cleric Kai," Zelgadis offered. "Lina was injured and I took her to a guildhouse for healing."  
Brynn looked at Lina sidelong. "Why didn't you tell Davin that it was that time of the month?"  
Lina blushed deeply again. "It's not something that I talk about."  
Amelia put one and one together and came up with what she thought was the answer. "So that ruin back there was Talerin? And these people think you did it, Miss Lina? I mean, I know you're destructive and prone to throw fireballs first and ask questions later. and you /did/ rather destroy a town by accident once or twice. but." She saw the anger darkening Lina's eyes as the petite sorceress stood, and felt the threat of impending doom. "But I don't think that you meant to destroy them."  
"Amelia." Lina sighed and sat back down. "I didn't do it. I wasn't there, I wasn't capable of it, and I wouldn't have done it without good reason." 


End file.
